The Most Noble Daughters of Black
by englishrose07
Summary: Three sisters, born into a world without freedom or love. The pressure of family loyalty both unites and divides them. Follow Andromeda, Bellatrix and Narcissa as they fight for a place in a world that is about to change forever.
1. These Are My Ashes

_I am the last true remnant of what was once the noblest bloodline known to wizards. Everyone else is gone: choosing to die for our family name or turning traitor. While I am guilty of losing faith in a cause, it was for the sake of our family and therefore you will be cursed for all eternity if you dare to suggest that I ever turned my back on what was most important. As a child, I was taught that family always came first and your dreams would have to forever be contented with second place. Even ridding the world of bad blood had to be delayed if our name was in danger, for the only important pureblood line was ours and all who disagreed were smote from our memory._

_Love. The emotion that is supposed to hold a family together only served to tear us apart. To our parents it was unnecessary, foolish. Ambition and pride were far more important. But for my sisters and I, this bond kept our souls alive, and it kept us together. But sisterly love was buffeted by the other elements of human emotion, until one of us was lost forever._

_Then came the cause. All the prejudices and resentment concentrated into one ambition of victory and supremacy, founded on the principles that we had supported for generations. It filled our family with pride and purpose…and it stole my sister's heart. Though now I question my ability to form my own opinions, even I was swept up in the visions of glory. But after my son was born everything changed. The state of our leader hung in limbo, and I no longer cared. 15 years later, I realized that whatever I had previously identified as fear was nothing compared to what I was now experiencing._

_Now everything is gone. The reputations of both my family and my husband's are in jagged tatters, stamped under the feet of muggleborns and blood traitors. My husband languishes in jail, a hollow shell of his former self. But somehow I can't find it in myself to feel pain. I have a son safe at home, healing the scratches inflicted both on his body and soul. I have my own scars to heal, but I fear they run deeper than Draco's. My world was never mine to begin with, but now I have centered it around my son, and nothing will ever tear us apart. I've let myself be tossed about in the storm of others' whims for too long. I can't turn back time and reverse what happened; I'm not sure if I would have had the power to change anything._

_But no matter how hard I try, I will never be able to sever the bond forged by three lost young girls. One lies cold in the ground, the other is lost to me forever. But I will never forget that once we were sisters. So here is my true story, our true story, revealing the truth for the first time. My name is Narcissa Malfoy, and I am a daughter of the most noble House of Black._


	2. Seeds of Doubt

Though the sounds of a newborn's cries had ceased a good half an hour before, the wails seemed to linger slightly in the vast, dark corridor, as if they had been absorbed into the cold wooden floors and woven themselves into the thick tapestries which, in the flickering light from sconces on the walls, seemed to be moving. A pair of frightened dark eyes stared at a particularly gruesome depiction of a venerated ancestor butchering a dragon. The body attached to these eyes was pressed uneasily against the wall, one hand grasping the fingers of another, slightly taller, dark-haired figure who, while also pressed against the wall, had her head cocked towards the door on her right.

Suddenly, footsteps rang out down the corridor, and as the door next to them opened, spilling out a sharp knife of light that cut through the murk, the two little girls quickly shifted to the side so they were half hidden behind a statue. A tall, dark-haired man in sweeping black robes strode past them and through the doorway. As the door shut behind him, the girls crept back out to their previous positions.

"Bella," whimpered the smaller girl. "How much longer to we have to wait?"

"Hush, Andy," admonished her sister. "Father has to see the baby first."

Andy bounced slightly in her impatience, absentmindedly sucking on one of her fingers. Bella ignored her, as she tried to peek through the crack between the door and the wall. She frowned slightly as the volume of the conversation inside increased, until a voice burst out, ringing through the corridor, and sending the girls scrambling for cover again.

"How can you not know?" roared their father. "Are you lying to me?"

At this eruption of rage, the baby had begun to cry again, masking the sound of muffled sobs. Andy sniffed and her sister put an arm around her trembling shoulders. Once again, footsteps were heard at the end of the corridor, quick, but soft, in a way that suggested a more than slight edge of barely concealed panic. By the time Bella and Andy had noticed, they had no time to dive behind the statue before a woman had both of them by the wrists and pulled them out into the candlelight.

"Miss Bellatrix! Miss Andromeda! What were you thinking sneaking off like that? You'll see the baby when it's ready, but right now you need to you leave your father and mother alone." As the nurse dragged her two charges around the corner, they heard the door slam and their father storm away in the opposite direction.

* * *

It was not until the following day that the girls were called to their mother's bedroom to see their new sister. As they bounded in with excitement, their pale-faced mother loosened the swaddled bundle so they could see Narcissa Black. Bellatrix, already having seen a baby sister, decided she would look first, assertively leaning over the side of the bed. She stared at Narcissa's face for close to a minute, brow furrowed slightly. While Andromeda squirmed beside her, trying to see her baby sister, Bellatrix looked up at her mother and pronounced, "She has strange eyes". At this, her mother turned away to hide her sobs and the girls were ushered from the room, but not before Andromeda had caught a glimpse of a pair of bright blue eyes.


End file.
